Ron Urquhart
Most of us know of dirt track racing in Chatham Kent as South Buxton Raceway, now known as the Southern Ontario Motor Speedway. This stock car racing facility was operating as Harwich Speedway 1952 – 1954. Then at the same location, under the name, Ridgetown Raceway, this racing facility was in operation from 1969 – 1978 racing Tuesday and Friday nights.
Ron Urquhart was a Chatham firefighter through the week but his passion was promoting motorsports events. Back in the early 1980’s, Ron had rented some land outside of Chatham and built a motocross track and an off-road course for trucks. There was also a pond on the property which allowed for motorcycle ice racing in the winter. This facility was named “The Gooseneck” and was located in the county just off highway #2 west of Chatham surrounded by farmland. The local residents issued enough noise complaints that Ron eventually shut down the operation.
Ron approached Larry Gore back in 1982. Larry owned the idled Ridgetown Raceway property and the two worked out an agreement for Ron to lease the property. This new venture was indeed a family run operation, Ron and his wife Diane along with their two boys, Kevin and Todd spent most of 1982 at the track completely rebuilding this racing facility. New boards on the bleachers, rebuilt concessions and washrooms, cleaning up the pit area and much more. Ron even had a friend, Barry Simpson come over with a tractor to tear up and rework the track in preparation to rebuild it. Upwards up 70 loads of new dirt was brought to the site to rebuild the track surface. Bruce Taine helped out with his backhoe building new walls, light standards, hydro poles as they replaced all the elecrical on site.
The Ridge Raceway, as it was renamed, was reopened in 1983. The first couple of events at the track were motocross events that went over well but after being asked repeatedly by several of the locals including Frank Sparks to reopen the track to stock cars the Urquhart’s did just that. The Ridge Raceway was opened for stock car races in the fall of 1983 featuring the wedge late models and the Hobby Stocks on Friday nights.
Now that The Ridge Raceway was open for business, everyone had a job;
- Ron Urquhart – Promoter, drivers meetings, scheduling and much more.
- Diane Urquhart – Office, Concessions, Ticket Booths etc…
- Kevin Urquhart – Track Preparation
- Todd Urquhart – Electrical Technician
- Mike Powell Sr., John Geene & Leo Smolders – Scorers (tower Technicians).
- Graham Shoemaker – Flagman
- Rob Watson – Assisted with switch to Pro Stocks from the Wedge Late Models.
- Don Smith – Announcer
- Frank Sadlick – Pit Steward
- Raz – Tech Inspector
The Ridge Raceway was a family oriented stock car racing facility ran by a well respected family, the Urquhart’s.
Shortly after opening The Ridge Raceway, Ron went to Delaware Speedway one night and asked the drivers from Delaware to come to The Ridge Raceway and put on a show. The promoter at Delaware told Ron that the drivers would not race at his track. The next day, several Delaware drivers and the Delaware promoter showed up at The Ridge Raceway for the Sunday night races and they put on a great show.
Throughout the 1984-1985 racing season the wedge late models were a sight to see at The Ridge Raceway. Late model fabrication wizards and horsepower made on track action an impressive era at the raceway. This wedge late model division was putting on a fantastic show but the number of cars were dwindling down. Ron understood the need for a more affordable racing solution. In 1985, Ron introduced the “Pro Stock” division with stock looking bodies, chassis, and engine rules to allow a lower cost of entry into the sport. The common rules package adopted from the Checker Flag Speedway in Windsor offered another opportunity to race.
Jack Burke, one of the weekly racer’s at The Ridge Raceway brought his car out on the track at intermission one night and with the permission of her parents, Jack took a little girl that was dying around the track for a few laps, The crowd went wild. (As I understand it, this young lady died a few months later).
It was 1986 when Ron made the difficult decision to drop the wedge late model division to promote the pro stock division. Ron guaranteed $500 to the winner every night which was a lot of money at that time. Making the switch to the pro stocks paid off as car counts were way up and some local racer’s were making the switch from asphalt to dirt on Sunday nights at The Ridge Raceway.
Ron would also bring in special attractions on occasion. The Empire State Sprints would come to The Ridge Raceway 2 – 3 times a year and they loved coming up because of the fans and the way they were treated at The Ridge Raceway. When you operate a respectable racing venue as Ron and his family did, it is easy to get drivers back.
Always the promoter, Ron cemented sponsorships with many local businesses in the form of special events and promotional prizes. Mckerlie Millen, Pepsi and Molson Breweries to name a few. Ron promoted The Ridge Raceway until the lease ran out in 1995 and he could not reach an agreement to continue racing on the property.
The Ridge Raceway Banquets were something else, very well attended as most years saw the banquet attendance break the 500 mark. There were many great gifts and door prizes for the ladies but there was also many great racing related prizes for the racers such as tools and much more.
After The Ridge Raceway closed at the end of 1995, Ron was away from the promotional end of things for several years but when the opportunity arose, Ron accepted the position of promoting South Buxton Raceway in 2016.
Courtesy of Mike Powell Jr. and Ron Urquhart
